The issues had begun to emerge well before the team was officially selected. Once they arrived in India, the execution of their plans faced significant challenges and did not go as intended.
Abrupt End
The Narendra Modi Stadium empties as Adil Rashid gets out, sealing England's early exit from the World Cup. Their campaign ends not with a grand finale, but with a whimper, as the reigning champions collapse into a mere shadow of their former selves.
No one expected this. Even the pundits who predicted England would fail to reach the semifinals could not have foreseen the scale of the team's implosion. They end up fighting for seventh place against teams like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands, desperate to avoid further embarrassment.
The day before England's opening defeat to New Zealand, captain Jos Buttler told reporters that they could not rely on past glories. These words would come back to haunt him over the next five weeks. A month later, standing on the same field, Buttler appeared dejected and beleaguered, admitting this was an incredibly tough low point for him as captain, as England arrived in India with high hopes but had failed to do themselves justice. The spectacular underperformance of England's star-studded team is not easily explained by a single factor. As Ben Stokes bluntly stated, "The problem is that we've been rubbish."
The issues that plagued England's preparation and their missteps since arriving in India were all exacerbated once they started losing. The result was a complete collapse of the deep-rooted confidence that had underpinned their previous success.
It was as if the players were trapped in a state of sleep paralysis, unable to address the unfolding nightmare before them. The absence of that characteristic self-assurance and belief seems to have been the critical factor in their dramatic implosion.
The depth of talent in the England squad makes their failure all the more bewildering. There does not appear to be a simple explanation, but rather a confluence of factors – both tangible and intangible – that led to their spectacular underperformance on the biggest stage. The loss of that inner conviction seems to have been the key to their downfall.
Imminent Fall
England's decline in white-ball cricket happened gradually, then suddenly. They struggled to compete in all three formats (Tests, ODIs, T20s) simultaneously. After winning the 2019 ODI World Cup, ODIs became their lowest priority as the focus shifted to back-to-back T20 World Cups.
When Rob Key took over as managing director in 2022, he put Test cricket as the top priority. England's ODI schedule became disorganised, with rearranged series overlapping with Test tours. Conscious of player workloads and the potential talent drain to franchise leagues, multi-format players featured less in 50-over cricket.
In the 2020-21 and 2021-22 winters, England played only 3 ODIs away from home, and just 6 ODIs in Asia between World Cups. The stability and continuity in ODI selection disappeared - they used 44 players in the 2019-23 cycle compared to 34 players in 2015-2019.
England's best one-day players like Jason Roy hardly featured in ODIs, making it harder to say they were still the country's top 50-over players. The next generation had limited opportunities to gain ODI experience with the domestic one-day competition overlapping with The Hundred.
Matthew Mott, the England white-ball coach appointed in 2022, acknowledged that the team was "guessing a little bit" with their World Cup squad selections, as they were unable to field a full complement of players in the lead-up. The selection process itself was undermined by poor communication, as evidenced by national selector Luke Wright revealing the World Cup squad during a press conference, even though he was not the most influential voice in the selection meeting.
Players were initially told they were going to the World Cup, only for captain Jos Buttler and Mott to later stress publicly that the squad was provisional. This led to England losing control of the news cycle, with Mott revealing beforehand that they were considering including the injured Jofra Archer and attempting to bring back Ben Stokes from ODI retirement. In the end, Archer was ruled out, while the surprising omission was that of in-form batter Harry Brook.
Wrong Assumption
Harry Brook had a strong performance for the Northern Superchargers, scoring a century, which raised questions about whether England had made a mistake in their selection. This form continued into the T20I series against New Zealand, and England's coach Mott hinted that Brook could be added to the World Cup squad.
There was a sense that England's 2022 T20 World Cup success had bred some complacency. England's team director Rob Key acknowledged they had assumed their talented team would just "slip into old habits" without much preparation.
England's build-up to the ODI World Cup was similarly disjointed, but they had some success in a home series against New Zealand, with strong individual performances from players like Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone.
Yet, the results in that series masked some underlying issues. Players were concerned about potential late additions to the squad like Brook and Jofra Archer and felt they were playing to secure their own spots on the team.
Buttler was frustrated that England's top order did not play aggressively enough in the first two ODIs against New Zealand. With key players like Wood and Rashid missing time due to injuries, England struggled to complete their World Cup squad and lineup until arriving in India.
Wood's injury was sustained during the draining Ashes series, leaving questions about the physical and mental condition of England's World Cup squad. England's performance trajectory was reversed from the 2019 World Cup, where they peaked, compared to the 2023 World Cup.
Roy was dropped after missing games due to back spasms, with Malan and Bairstow hastily becoming the new opening pair, a decision made too late in the preparation cycle.
England had a hectic travel schedule to India, arriving just 12 days before their first World Cup match after having to play an unnecessary ODI series against Ireland. This series was mainly for broadcast obligations rather than preparing the squad.